Lew Wallace

Lew Wallace (1827–1905) was an American soldier, lawyer, politician and novelist from Indiana. He served in the Mexican War, rose to major general in the Union army, was blamed for his late arrival at Shiloh and credited with saving Washington at the battle of Monocacy in 1864, and sat on the court that tried the Lincoln conspirators. As governor of New Mexico Territory he dealt with Billy the Kid, and as minister to Turkey he befriended the sultan. His novels include The Fair God, The Prince of India and Ben-Hur, written partly in the governor's palace at Santa Fe, which outsold every other American novel of its century.